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Since the dawn of civilisation,
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the forces of nature and the whims of gods
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held sway over humanity.
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But 2,500 years ago,
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humankind experienced a profound transformation.
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Suddenly, there were new possibilities.
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This is a time when rationality overrode superstition and belief.
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This is an ethic which does not rely on the gods.
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The world is now explained in terms of natural forces.
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We're now responsible for our own destiny.
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Upheavals across the globe
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sparked an ambitious vision of what humans could achieve,
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spearheaded by three trailblazers.
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Socrates, Confucius and the Buddha -
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great thinkers from the ancient world
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whose ideas still shape our own lives.
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Is wealth a good thing?
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How do you create a just society?
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How do I live a good life?
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By daring to think the unthinkable,
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they laid the foundations of our modern world.
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I've always been intrigued by the fact that these men,
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who lived many thousands of miles apart,
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seemed spontaneously
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and within 100 years of one another,
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to come up with such radical ideas.
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So, what was going on?
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I want to investigate their revolutionary ideas -
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to understand what set them in motion.
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This time, Socrates.
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It's so thrilling,
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imagining those big new ideas could possibly have been enacted there!
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He was the soldier whose bravery in battle
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was matched by the inflammatory courage of his ideas.
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Socrates encouraged his fellow citizens
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to rationally examine every aspect of their lives.
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Does the person who possess knowledge in the big way know everything?
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- You don't know?
- I don't know. I give up! I give up!
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I'm going to inhabit his world,
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to examine how his subversive philosophy
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challenged superstitious belief that had reigned for millennia...
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..and to discover how his search for truth
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led to his downfall.
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In 469 BC,
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Socrates was born, the son of a midwife and a stonemason,
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into a city in the midst of a tumultuous transformation.
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He grew up in the suburbs of Athens,
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at eye level with the sacred Acropolis rock.
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But young Socrates wouldn't have looked out
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over the elegant lines of the Parthenon Temple,
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that exquisite symbol of Western civilisation
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that still stands proud today.
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Instead, he'd have woken every morning to a horror -
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the blackened and burnt-out remains of buildings brutalised by war.
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His city bore the scars of a ferocious conflict
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with the region's superpower, Persia.
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But, against the odds, Athens had triumphed,
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just ten years before Socrates was born.
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Now, it revelled in what some call "the Greek miracle" -
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a golden age.
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Burgeoning trade flooded the region with new wealth
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and crucially, with new ideas.
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But the key ideology that would shape young Socrates' life
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belonged to Athens alone -
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because here, around 508 BC,
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democracy, the power of the people, was born.
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Virtually overnight,
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all adult male citizens found they didn't just serve the state -
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they were the state.
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You cannot over-emphasise
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how electrically exciting this must have been.
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Ordinary men were selected randomly at lot
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to hold the very highest of offices -
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the equivalent of being Head of the Foreign Office,
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or Home Secretary for one day.
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Socrates wouldn't only witness a city being rebuilt,
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but the ethical hazards of a new social experiment.
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As he was growing up, democracy too was finding its feet.
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Ordinary Athenians now had the potential
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to determine their own future,
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but their fate was still very firmly in the hands of the gods.
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Gods, demigods and spirits were believed to be everywhere,
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influencing people's everyday lives.
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If I'd been looking out over Athens during Socrates' lifetime,
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then this scene would have been thick with smoke
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and the smell of sacrifice would be heavy in the air,
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as Athenians frantically rushed around,
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trying to keep their gods on side -
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all 2,000 of them!
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This "pantheon of gods"
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gave people a sense of their place in the universe.
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But in these exciting times,
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a few were daring to question religious convention.
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As a teenager, Socrates sought them out
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in one of Athens' most edgy and marginal districts -
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Keramiekos.
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For 600 years, this had been Athens' main burial ground.
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Come Socrates' day,
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and it had evolved into a kind of cosmopolitan suburb of sin.
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Travelling salesman plied their wares here,
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along with prostitutes,
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who offered what were euphemistically known as
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"middle of the day marriages".
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Many young Athenians didn't need to work.
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There was one slave to every two free citizens.
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So, Socrates had the free time to come here
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and listen in on theories carried in on the trade routes.
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He encountered thinkers from the Eastern Mediterranean,
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whose ideas had, for over a century,
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confronted traditional explanations of the cosmos.
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What people saw as mysterious and unfathomable,
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they viewed as rationally ordered -
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and to some degree, rationally explicable.
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We refer to them now as one group, the pre-Socratics,
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but in reality, they were brilliant, independent thinkers.
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They asked hugely ambitious scientific questions.
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What is the cosmos made of?
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What is matter, and how do we perceive it?
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Their answers, in some cases,
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undermined the role of the gods as rulers of the cosmos.
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Their abstract theories -
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obviously conceived without the help of scientific instruments -
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that the universe was made of atoms and empty space,
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that water was the fundamental element of the world,
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and that the sun was one giant red-hot rock,
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were wildly provocative.
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The scale and audacity of their thinking was breathtaking.
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The pre-Socratics not only struck at the core of traditional belief,
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but their use of reason opened up a new way
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to look at the entirety of human experience -
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an approach eagerly taken up by the young Socrates.
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Suddenly, it's not just tradition or myth or religious hierarchies
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that are telling you how to make sense of your world,
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but rational debate, systematic thought.
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Just like those other groundbreaking philosophers of the age -
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Confucius in China and the Buddha in what's now India -
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Socrates and his contemporaries
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are daring to harness the power of the mind
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to explain the world around them.
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This is a quantum shift.
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Confident, brave-new-world Athens
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didn't seek to suppress this new spirit of inquiry.
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The city became a magnet for innovation -
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thanks, in large part, to the man who would dominate Athenian politics
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for almost half of Socrates' life -
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the visionary politician, Pericles.
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He gathered thinkers and artists to advise him
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and set about making democracy
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the dominant ideology in the Greek world.
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He glorified the streets with sumptuous statues
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and fetishized democratic principles.
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Athens built warships called "Freedom" and "Freedom of Speech".
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Yet, Socrates would understand all this success had its flipside.
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Democracy's high ideals would need to be interrogated.
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A later source tells us that Socrates declared,
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"Beautiful statues, high city walls and warships are all very well,
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"but what's the point, if those within them aren't happy?"
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So, we have to imagine a young Socrates
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walking around this fabulous, febrile city,
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beginning to ask those big questions
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that are still utterly relevant today.
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Is wealth a good thing?
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Can a democracy itself create a just society?
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What is it makes us truly happy?
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Democracy had opened a Pandora's box of new dilemmas and contradictions.
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As he reached adulthood,
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Socrates would become the one to point them out -
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a constant irritant, known as "the gadfly of Athens".
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An infamous celebrity of his day.
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But Socrates is also an enigma, because as far as we know,
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he didn't write anything down - not a single line.
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He thought that writing was dangerous,
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because it imprisoned knowledge.
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It's only thanks to contemporaries -
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such as Plato, who may have coined the term "philosopher",
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perhaps with Socrates in mind -
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that his thoughts and life story have been preserved.
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And what a man he seems to have been.
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Ironic, courageous, brilliant,
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wildly charismatic
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and utterly infuriating.
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Plato's compelling accounts of his life, his ideas
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and his dramatic death are a jewel in the canon of Western thought.
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When we think of the ancient Greek philosophers,
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we often visualise them as they've been portrayed
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in Renaissance works of art -
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lofty grey beards, draped in elegant robes,
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hanging around classical columns.
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We don't perhaps imagine them
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involved in the dirty and bloody business of war.
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Athens' appetite for territorial expansion seems to been sharpened
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by the collective will of democratic voters.
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Socrates, like all male Athenian citizens, was expected to fight.
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He was in his late 30s when he was sent here, to Potidaea,
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to help take control of this strategic city in Northern Greece.
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It's from this time of war
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we get sharper textual details of Socrates' life.
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The man himself starts to come into focus.
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His vision, his physical courage, his eccentricities -
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and a man with something momentous on his mind.
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The fighting was fierce -
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and for three years, the town was besieged.
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In desperation, locals turned to cannibalism.
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Yet, in amongst all these horrors and the pity of war,
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somehow Socrates found stillness.
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We're told he became absorbed by complex, private thoughts.
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In the depths of winter,
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wearing just a threadbare cloak and with bare feet,
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he stood - for 24 hours at a stretch.
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Stock-still,
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lost in his own mind.
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Unlike the pre-Socratic thinkers,
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Socrates came to believe that understanding the cosmos
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was an esoteric diversion from something far more important.
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Studying the secrets of the stars was all very well,
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but human affairs had far greater urgency.
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So, Socrates did something truly ground-breaking.
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He turned rational thought inward,
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to solve the mortal dilemmas we all face.
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He threw all his energies
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into resolving the fundamental questions of human existence.
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What kind of a life should we lead?
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What sort of people do we want to be?
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He's the first individual in the West
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to put ethics at the very heart of his philosophy.
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Socrates' starting point was simple.
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Everyone yearns for a full and flourishing life,
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but it wasn't to be found in the transitory pleasures
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and distractions of the material world.
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Socrates believed we can only realise our human potential
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when we nurture the most precious,
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the most permanent part of our beings - our souls.
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When we do right, we protect our soul.
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When we do wrong, we harm it.
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Knowing right from wrong was fundamental to every aspect of life.
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And in fifth century Athens, the issue was acute.
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As many as 4,000 legal cases were heard each year.
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Democracy had revolutionised the law courts.
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Now, any male citizen,
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from aristocrats right down to fishmongers,
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could be a judge for the day.
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We're told Socrates found such amateur governance troubling.
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If those sitting in judgment weren't qualified to understand
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the difference between right and wrong,
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then they could convict an innocent person.
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They'd be punishing someone who didn't deserve to be hurt.
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But in Socrates' view, the innocent person would only suffer physically.
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It's the jurors who would be harming themselves much more.
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By unknowingly doing wrong,
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they would inflict terrible, lasting damage to their own souls.
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In order to protect Athenians, Socrates needed to teach them.
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"The only evil is ignorance", he said.
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But Socrates faced a problem.
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The Greeks did have an ethical framework of sorts,
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but it wasn't either clear or consistent.
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The destiny of all Greeks was in the hands of the gods.
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They were venerated,
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even though their personal lives were pretty short on moral guidance.
259
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Capricious and vengeful,
260
00:16:52,770 --> 00:16:55,770
they fought with each other, they slept with one another's wives,
261
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they abducted mortals.
262
00:16:58,050 --> 00:16:59,410
And appropriately,
263
00:16:59,410 --> 00:17:03,130
the gods didn't seem that interested in human morality, either.
264
00:17:04,290 --> 00:17:08,010
Living a good life didn't guarantee favour with the gods.
265
00:17:08,010 --> 00:17:09,650
Respecting their power
266
00:17:09,650 --> 00:17:13,490
and offering the most expensive and bloodiest sacrifice
267
00:17:13,490 --> 00:17:15,130
was a much safer bet.
268
00:17:18,130 --> 00:17:21,570
Greeks did, however, believe there were five virtues -
269
00:17:21,570 --> 00:17:26,490
justice, temperance, courage, piety and wisdom.
270
00:17:26,490 --> 00:17:31,410
But in practice, these virtues were slippery, shifting ideals.
271
00:17:31,410 --> 00:17:35,210
What was considered just or pious for an aristocratic man
272
00:17:35,210 --> 00:17:38,210
wasn't necessarily the same for a slave woman.
273
00:17:39,330 --> 00:17:42,530
In Socrates' experience, traditional moral thinking -
274
00:17:42,530 --> 00:17:46,330
the kind taught by elders and priests and epic poets -
275
00:17:46,330 --> 00:17:49,010
just didn't stand up to scrutiny.
276
00:17:49,010 --> 00:17:54,130
His philosophy became a search for more robust, universal definitions.
277
00:17:56,850 --> 00:18:00,770
Socrates thought that all the virtues were interlinked.
278
00:18:00,770 --> 00:18:02,890
They couldn't be separated.
279
00:18:02,890 --> 00:18:05,330
He thought of them as one thing -
280
00:18:05,330 --> 00:18:09,170
something he called "knowledge of the human good".
281
00:18:12,850 --> 00:18:17,610
For him, virtue is knowledge - knowledge of the human good.
282
00:18:17,610 --> 00:18:20,930
He says that this knowledge of the human good
283
00:18:20,930 --> 00:18:23,770
is going to, in some sense, save your life.
284
00:18:23,770 --> 00:18:26,130
This is really strong language.
285
00:18:26,130 --> 00:18:27,930
But is that an abstract idea,
286
00:18:27,930 --> 00:18:31,330
or is there something that can play out in people's day to day lives?
287
00:18:31,330 --> 00:18:33,850
Oh, no, absolutely. Knowledge of the human good
288
00:18:33,850 --> 00:18:37,850
is what enables us to make the right practical decisions
289
00:18:37,850 --> 00:18:39,610
in our daily lives.
290
00:18:39,610 --> 00:18:43,650
But it's going to look different in different contexts.
291
00:18:43,650 --> 00:18:45,850
For instance, if you're on a battlefield,
292
00:18:45,850 --> 00:18:47,850
it will manifest itself as courage.
293
00:18:47,850 --> 00:18:52,130
If you're sacrificing in a temple, it will look like piety,
294
00:18:52,130 --> 00:18:54,650
And it's through those decisions and actions
295
00:18:54,650 --> 00:18:57,690
that we are enabled to take care of our souls -
296
00:18:57,690 --> 00:19:00,130
our most precious possession,
297
00:19:00,130 --> 00:19:03,170
on which all our happiness depends.
298
00:19:03,170 --> 00:19:05,690
But that means that people have real agency,
299
00:19:05,690 --> 00:19:07,490
because it seems to me that he's saying
300
00:19:07,490 --> 00:19:09,890
it's not down to the Gods to make the world a better place,
301
00:19:09,890 --> 00:19:11,810
- it's down to us.
- Absolutely.
302
00:19:11,810 --> 00:19:15,130
Socrates is saying, you don't have to depend on the whims
303
00:19:15,130 --> 00:19:16,930
and the caprices of the gods.
304
00:19:16,930 --> 00:19:21,450
It's really about individual empowerment and responsibility.
305
00:19:21,450 --> 00:19:24,490
And furthermore, whereas he inherited a tradition which said
306
00:19:24,490 --> 00:19:27,250
there was one kind of virtue for a man, another for a woman,
307
00:19:27,250 --> 00:19:31,690
one for, you know, a well-born person, another for a slave,
308
00:19:31,690 --> 00:19:35,090
he's saying, no - it's about knowledge of the human good,
309
00:19:35,090 --> 00:19:39,490
in a universal sense. It's available to everybody.
310
00:19:39,490 --> 00:19:41,210
Cicero later says of him,
311
00:19:41,210 --> 00:19:45,610
he brings philosophy down from the heavens and into people's homes
312
00:19:45,610 --> 00:19:47,890
and into people's individual homes.
313
00:19:47,890 --> 00:19:52,490
This really is a very radical moment in Western thought.
314
00:19:52,490 --> 00:19:55,690
Exciting and empowering, but also dangerous.
315
00:19:55,690 --> 00:19:59,850
Indeed, because even though Socrates himself
316
00:19:59,850 --> 00:20:03,930
was personally very religious, as far as we know, very pious,
317
00:20:03,930 --> 00:20:06,370
this is socially threatening.
318
00:20:06,370 --> 00:20:09,490
It's threatening traditional religion and of course,
319
00:20:09,490 --> 00:20:12,850
these messages are disturbing to a lot of people.
320
00:20:17,730 --> 00:20:21,490
Socrates didn't deny the existence of the gods, but his emphasis
321
00:20:21,490 --> 00:20:24,650
on the capacity of humans to shape their own destiny
322
00:20:24,650 --> 00:20:27,810
could be seen as challenging their traditional roles.
323
00:20:31,530 --> 00:20:34,410
Fortunately, the sacrificial fires to the Gods,
324
00:20:34,410 --> 00:20:36,050
which had burnt for centuries,
325
00:20:36,050 --> 00:20:40,130
were now lit in a city that also prized freedom of expression.
326
00:20:41,610 --> 00:20:45,370
Initially, Socrates' unorthodox ideas were tolerated.
327
00:20:46,610 --> 00:20:49,130
But then, in 431 BC,
328
00:20:49,130 --> 00:20:51,250
the good times looked set to end.
329
00:20:55,930 --> 00:20:59,650
The violence of Potidaea escalated into all-out conflict.
330
00:21:01,050 --> 00:21:05,010
The pitiless Peloponnesian war between Athens and its nemesis -
331
00:21:05,010 --> 00:21:07,010
the city-state of Sparta.
332
00:21:08,770 --> 00:21:11,050
Here at the National Archaeological Museum,
333
00:21:11,050 --> 00:21:14,970
funerary urns depict the heartbreaking suffering and loss
334
00:21:14,970 --> 00:21:16,770
experienced by the Athenians.
335
00:21:21,250 --> 00:21:25,170
With Spartan hordes ravaging the countryside around Athens,
336
00:21:25,170 --> 00:21:28,570
Pericles ordered every citizen from the surrounding area
337
00:21:28,570 --> 00:21:30,450
to come inside the city walls.
338
00:21:31,650 --> 00:21:34,290
It was a fatal strategy.
339
00:21:34,290 --> 00:21:37,690
A new kind of terror was unleashed from within.
340
00:21:41,450 --> 00:21:44,490
Athens became one giant refugee camp.
341
00:21:44,490 --> 00:21:46,730
With the population hemmed in together,
342
00:21:46,730 --> 00:21:50,250
a deadly disease spread like wildfire.
343
00:21:50,250 --> 00:21:52,770
The symptoms were ghastly -
344
00:21:52,770 --> 00:21:56,010
sweats, fevers, a suppurating rash
345
00:21:56,010 --> 00:21:57,690
and a racking cough.
346
00:21:58,770 --> 00:22:00,730
At a conservative estimate,
347
00:22:00,730 --> 00:22:05,250
at least one third of the population was wiped out.
348
00:22:09,090 --> 00:22:12,890
Angry and frustrated Athenians turned on their poster boy
349
00:22:12,890 --> 00:22:15,010
and removed Pericles from office.
350
00:22:16,370 --> 00:22:20,570
Eventually he died, it's believed, of the plague himself.
351
00:22:21,730 --> 00:22:24,010
A thriving Athens had been robust enough
352
00:22:24,010 --> 00:22:27,290
to deal with the searching questions of Socrates.
353
00:22:27,290 --> 00:22:29,570
Now, with confidence ebbing away,
354
00:22:29,570 --> 00:22:31,250
tolerance was threatened.
355
00:22:33,450 --> 00:22:36,410
Yet, energised by the same sense of crisis and danger
356
00:22:36,410 --> 00:22:40,330
which motivated the philosophies of Confucius and the Buddha,
357
00:22:40,330 --> 00:22:42,530
Socrates seems to have flourished.
358
00:22:45,410 --> 00:22:47,250
By now in his 40s
359
00:22:47,250 --> 00:22:51,050
and surrounded by war, death and disease,
360
00:22:51,050 --> 00:22:53,330
his search took on a new intensity.
361
00:22:55,050 --> 00:22:57,330
How do we decide what is good?
362
00:23:00,650 --> 00:23:02,370
Is wealth a good thing?
363
00:23:05,210 --> 00:23:07,530
What makes us truly happy?
364
00:23:10,330 --> 00:23:14,250
In Athens, Socrates wasn't the only one discussing big ideas
365
00:23:14,250 --> 00:23:16,050
with its embattled citizens.
366
00:23:17,730 --> 00:23:21,810
The sophists were cock-sure, showy educators -
367
00:23:21,810 --> 00:23:24,450
masters in the art of persuasive argument.
368
00:23:25,450 --> 00:23:28,170
They acted as speechmakers in legal trials,
369
00:23:28,170 --> 00:23:31,210
entertaining huge crowds in stadiums.
370
00:23:31,210 --> 00:23:35,130
Socrates was sceptical, to say the least.
371
00:23:35,130 --> 00:23:38,410
Like the sophists, he challenged orthodox thought,
372
00:23:38,410 --> 00:23:40,250
but he also passionately believed
373
00:23:40,250 --> 00:23:42,850
that philosophy should have a higher purpose.
374
00:23:42,850 --> 00:23:47,210
Clever ideas and persuasive arguments just weren't enough.
375
00:23:51,210 --> 00:23:54,650
To the sophists, smart words were currency.
376
00:23:54,650 --> 00:23:58,290
They sold their services to the highest bidder.
377
00:23:58,290 --> 00:24:01,530
But Socrates refused to be paid,
378
00:24:01,530 --> 00:24:03,650
preferring handouts from friends.
379
00:24:05,290 --> 00:24:08,370
That's not to say he didn't enjoy worldly pleasures.
380
00:24:09,770 --> 00:24:12,090
He drank and made love,
381
00:24:12,090 --> 00:24:13,930
but barefoot and unwashed,
382
00:24:13,930 --> 00:24:16,730
he stood out in materially minded Athens.
383
00:24:18,210 --> 00:24:22,570
We're told that he marched past shop stalls in his shabby robes, saying,
384
00:24:22,570 --> 00:24:24,610
"How many things I don't need!"
385
00:24:26,090 --> 00:24:28,650
He saw wealth as impermanent -
386
00:24:28,650 --> 00:24:32,490
a distraction from the search for absolute values.
387
00:24:32,490 --> 00:24:35,770
Socrates believed you couldn't buy knowledge -
388
00:24:35,770 --> 00:24:39,370
and wisdom didn't come from listening to long speeches.
389
00:24:39,370 --> 00:24:41,930
It could only come through something else -
390
00:24:41,930 --> 00:24:43,850
dialogue.
391
00:24:43,850 --> 00:24:48,850
- So, Bethany, I understand you're here to do a documentary about Socrates.
- Yes.
392
00:24:48,850 --> 00:24:50,850
Why are you making this documentary?
393
00:24:50,850 --> 00:24:54,210
'His Socratic method worked something like this -
394
00:24:54,210 --> 00:24:56,690
'Socrates would engage someone in the street...'
395
00:24:56,690 --> 00:24:58,970
I can learn something more about Socrates
396
00:24:58,970 --> 00:25:02,210
and I can share that knowledge with the people who are watching it.
397
00:25:02,210 --> 00:25:04,530
These are big words - "knowledge" and "truth".
398
00:25:04,530 --> 00:25:06,770
Shall we take one of them? What would it mean...?
399
00:25:06,770 --> 00:25:08,770
'He'd ask them an ethical question.'
400
00:25:08,770 --> 00:25:12,490
So what is this thing - knowledge - that you want to impart?
401
00:25:12,490 --> 00:25:13,850
In my book,
402
00:25:13,850 --> 00:25:18,610
knowledge is love of what it is to be human.
403
00:25:18,610 --> 00:25:22,050
'The person would attempt to define the concept,
404
00:25:22,050 --> 00:25:25,290
'but Socrates would find inconsistencies in their answers.'
405
00:25:25,290 --> 00:25:27,570
- So, knowledge is love?
- Yeah.
- OK.
406
00:25:27,570 --> 00:25:33,090
So, if you wanted to have an operation for an appendicitis,
407
00:25:33,090 --> 00:25:36,410
would you go to a woman who was full of love,
408
00:25:36,410 --> 00:25:39,130
- but knew nothing about surgery?
- No!
409
00:25:39,130 --> 00:25:43,250
OK, So I would say that the definition of "knowledge as love"
410
00:25:43,250 --> 00:25:45,010
is not good enough.
411
00:25:45,010 --> 00:25:47,850
'They would be forced to withdraw their definition
412
00:25:47,850 --> 00:25:50,490
'and to reformulate and refine their ideas.'
413
00:25:50,490 --> 00:25:52,450
So, let's try it again.
414
00:25:52,450 --> 00:25:56,010
Is there one kind of knowledge, or many kinds of knowledge?
415
00:25:57,210 --> 00:25:59,130
Knowledge is one thing...
416
00:25:59,130 --> 00:26:02,050
Take your time. I don't know the answers to this.
417
00:26:02,050 --> 00:26:04,610
Maybe knowledge is one thing,
418
00:26:04,610 --> 00:26:06,970
but knowing is many things.
419
00:26:06,970 --> 00:26:08,650
'This process would spiral
420
00:26:08,650 --> 00:26:11,850
'into a dizzying round of question and answer.'
421
00:26:11,850 --> 00:26:14,050
..To know how the stars move
422
00:26:14,050 --> 00:26:17,490
and to know how the liver operates is the same thing?
423
00:26:18,770 --> 00:26:21,170
No, they're not the same thing.
424
00:26:21,170 --> 00:26:24,650
Does the person who possesses knowledge in the big way know everything?
425
00:26:24,650 --> 00:26:27,970
Between those two, who is probably the best stone maker?
426
00:26:27,970 --> 00:26:31,770
Er... The one who...
427
00:26:31,770 --> 00:26:35,690
I don't know! I give up, I give up!
428
00:26:35,690 --> 00:26:38,530
'Socrates likens his role to that of a midwife,
429
00:26:38,530 --> 00:26:42,050
'who helps to nurture and deliver the thoughts of others.
430
00:26:42,050 --> 00:26:44,570
'But it was never an easy birth.'
431
00:26:44,570 --> 00:26:46,730
I have to say that the one thing you've proved to me
432
00:26:46,730 --> 00:26:48,170
is that I know nothing.
433
00:26:48,170 --> 00:26:50,610
Ah, no, no. That's me! LAUGHTER
434
00:26:50,610 --> 00:26:54,570
I am the expert at making other people know things, but I'm no good -
435
00:26:54,570 --> 00:26:59,650
I know nothing and that is the only knowledge I claim for myself.
436
00:27:00,770 --> 00:27:04,930
That Socratic method is fascinating and stimulating,
437
00:27:04,930 --> 00:27:08,010
but it is also infuriating.
438
00:27:08,010 --> 00:27:11,090
Yes, because it's in an oral context, the way we do it,
439
00:27:11,090 --> 00:27:13,330
and Socrates famously believed
440
00:27:13,330 --> 00:27:16,290
in the supremacy of the oral over the written
441
00:27:16,290 --> 00:27:19,290
and that also stirs up the emotions.
442
00:27:19,290 --> 00:27:23,130
First of all, in his pretence of being the fool.
443
00:27:23,130 --> 00:27:25,250
- The ignorant man.
- Of knowing nothing, yeah.
444
00:27:25,250 --> 00:27:27,570
Yes, and because that is his tool,
445
00:27:27,570 --> 00:27:30,930
that he turns, in fact, against his friends -
446
00:27:30,930 --> 00:27:33,570
or opponents, as you may take it -
447
00:27:33,570 --> 00:27:37,810
and makes them admit to things that they don't want to admit to,
448
00:27:37,810 --> 00:27:40,810
by playing essentially the fool, saying,
449
00:27:40,810 --> 00:27:42,410
"I know nothing, I know nothing.
450
00:27:42,410 --> 00:27:45,250
"I can only ask you to tell me, because I know nothing."
451
00:27:45,250 --> 00:27:47,930
So, he laid an emphasis on the definitions,
452
00:27:47,930 --> 00:27:52,170
then on what he called "dieresis" - division -
453
00:27:52,170 --> 00:27:55,090
of breaking down a problem into little parts,
454
00:27:55,090 --> 00:27:57,690
analysing parts, analysing it.
455
00:27:57,690 --> 00:28:00,290
And then, attacking each one separately
456
00:28:00,290 --> 00:28:03,490
and then trying, inductively, to group them back together
457
00:28:03,490 --> 00:28:05,490
into a more general concept.
458
00:28:05,490 --> 00:28:09,690
So, Socrates uses that to make people become aware
459
00:28:09,690 --> 00:28:13,770
that things they consider simple and elementary and basic
460
00:28:13,770 --> 00:28:17,050
and that they know - they in fact don't know.
461
00:28:17,050 --> 00:28:18,850
And what about the modern world?
462
00:28:18,850 --> 00:28:22,290
Do you think we could have the modern world
463
00:28:22,290 --> 00:28:24,650
without Socratic debate,
464
00:28:24,650 --> 00:28:27,250
without questioning what it is to be human
465
00:28:27,250 --> 00:28:30,130
and what it is to be human in the world around us?
466
00:28:30,130 --> 00:28:34,370
Well, I think that the best way to accept,
467
00:28:34,370 --> 00:28:37,210
to find Socrates' place in it
468
00:28:37,210 --> 00:28:41,730
is to see that the opposite of the Socratic method, essentially,
469
00:28:41,730 --> 00:28:45,130
is fanaticism and dogmatism.
470
00:28:45,130 --> 00:28:48,890
And in that sense, the modern world very much needs
471
00:28:48,890 --> 00:28:51,850
an antidote to those things, at every level.
472
00:28:56,730 --> 00:28:59,330
The Socratic method was cathartic.
473
00:28:59,330 --> 00:29:01,730
It got difficult issues out into the open
474
00:29:01,730 --> 00:29:04,690
and defined concepts with much greater precision.
475
00:29:07,690 --> 00:29:11,050
Socrates' tough questioning, with his trademark irony,
476
00:29:11,050 --> 00:29:13,010
was conducted in public,
477
00:29:13,010 --> 00:29:15,730
causing a stir wherever he went.
478
00:29:18,130 --> 00:29:21,970
He was inviting everyone to seek knowledge of the human good,
479
00:29:21,970 --> 00:29:24,970
to identify fundamental truths.
480
00:29:24,970 --> 00:29:27,650
But people could only do this for themselves
481
00:29:27,650 --> 00:29:30,210
by constantly interrogating their actions
482
00:29:30,210 --> 00:29:32,490
and most deeply held beliefs.
483
00:29:32,490 --> 00:29:36,810
"The unexamined life," Socrates said, "is not worth living."
484
00:29:42,130 --> 00:29:44,410
But there was a problem.
485
00:29:44,410 --> 00:29:48,650
Socrates' teaching found particular favour with the young.
486
00:29:48,650 --> 00:29:51,370
With no end in sight to war with Sparta,
487
00:29:51,370 --> 00:29:55,770
these human resources were vital to Athens' future.
488
00:29:55,770 --> 00:29:59,490
Laws attempted to protect the youth from malign influence.
489
00:30:00,570 --> 00:30:04,570
Encouraging them to think for themselves was fraught with danger.
490
00:30:05,850 --> 00:30:08,050
Yet Socrates sought them out,
491
00:30:08,050 --> 00:30:10,930
close to the most public place in the city -
492
00:30:10,930 --> 00:30:12,290
the Agora.
493
00:30:13,770 --> 00:30:15,330
Across the ancient world,
494
00:30:15,330 --> 00:30:18,250
commerce was increasingly a driver for change -
495
00:30:18,250 --> 00:30:21,690
and that was felt particularly keenly here in Athens.
496
00:30:21,690 --> 00:30:24,490
The Agora was a buzzing market,
497
00:30:24,490 --> 00:30:27,850
a place where people came to exchange goods and gossip.
498
00:30:31,850 --> 00:30:34,930
Socrates loved sharing his ideas here.
499
00:30:34,930 --> 00:30:38,370
It's from Agora we get the word "Agoraphobia" -
500
00:30:38,370 --> 00:30:39,970
a fear of open spaces.
501
00:30:41,810 --> 00:30:45,770
There was anxiety back then, too, as under-18s were barred.
502
00:30:47,250 --> 00:30:51,050
Now, archaeology helps to point to how Socrates met young Athenians
503
00:30:51,050 --> 00:30:55,330
just outside the Agora's boundary, in a private dwelling.
504
00:30:55,330 --> 00:30:57,810
So, we're right on the edge of the Agora space,
505
00:30:57,810 --> 00:31:01,650
and we're in-between the public space and the private space behind us here.
506
00:31:01,650 --> 00:31:04,050
And this wall behind us right here
507
00:31:04,050 --> 00:31:06,130
is one of those private establishments.
508
00:31:06,130 --> 00:31:08,290
And we have a later source that mentions
509
00:31:08,290 --> 00:31:11,330
Socrates visiting the house of a friend of his
510
00:31:11,330 --> 00:31:13,850
and we have this figure, Simon the Cobbler
511
00:31:13,850 --> 00:31:16,130
and he's hosting young men.
512
00:31:16,130 --> 00:31:17,890
So, we have the literary source,
513
00:31:17,890 --> 00:31:21,370
but what's nice is that during the excavations right here,
514
00:31:21,370 --> 00:31:23,890
they found hobnails, they found bone eyelets
515
00:31:23,890 --> 00:31:25,650
and then, they also found a cup
516
00:31:25,650 --> 00:31:28,650
and this is the amazing bit of evidence really,
517
00:31:28,650 --> 00:31:32,050
because this cup has the name "Simon" scratched on it.
518
00:31:32,050 --> 00:31:34,770
And this is a replica right here of the cup
519
00:31:34,770 --> 00:31:38,810
and you can see that it does have "Simonos" scratched on it.
520
00:31:38,810 --> 00:31:40,810
Yeah, I just... It's so thrilling being here,
521
00:31:40,810 --> 00:31:42,810
imagining those big, new ideas
522
00:31:42,810 --> 00:31:46,010
could possibly have been enacted there 2,500 years ago.
523
00:31:46,010 --> 00:31:48,610
We can say that Socrates was walking around this space
524
00:31:48,610 --> 00:31:51,210
and he was probably hanging out right here,
525
00:31:51,210 --> 00:31:54,770
in order to discuss things, things that might otherwise be...
526
00:31:54,770 --> 00:31:56,850
Something that might get him in trouble,
527
00:31:56,850 --> 00:31:59,210
I mean, it's a dangerous situation that, potentially.
528
00:31:59,210 --> 00:32:01,290
So, you've got this magnetic personality,
529
00:32:01,290 --> 00:32:03,930
having these rumbustious conversations with young men
530
00:32:03,930 --> 00:32:07,010
- and encouraging them to think for themselves.
- That's exactly right.
531
00:32:07,010 --> 00:32:09,770
This is the place where we're supposed to have freedom of thought
532
00:32:09,770 --> 00:32:14,450
and freedom of expression and so on, in this democratic idea,
533
00:32:14,450 --> 00:32:18,050
but this is a place where you have to respect the gods
534
00:32:18,050 --> 00:32:19,970
and you have to respect your elders
535
00:32:19,970 --> 00:32:22,170
and you have to respect the laws of the city.
536
00:32:22,170 --> 00:32:24,930
He's questioning the gods, he's questioning the laws,
537
00:32:24,930 --> 00:32:27,610
so he's really putting it to the test
538
00:32:27,610 --> 00:32:31,530
and forcing these young guys to see things in a different way
539
00:32:31,530 --> 00:32:33,650
and the city didn't really like that.
540
00:32:35,610 --> 00:32:38,330
Socrates was storing up trouble,
541
00:32:38,330 --> 00:32:42,770
especially as some of his devotees were confident young aristocrats -
542
00:32:42,770 --> 00:32:44,410
the city's future leaders.
543
00:32:49,450 --> 00:32:52,530
Most notable was Alcibiades.
544
00:32:53,970 --> 00:32:57,690
Well born, wealthy and an Olympic champion,
545
00:32:57,690 --> 00:33:00,650
this sexually promiscuous hell raiser
546
00:33:00,650 --> 00:33:04,410
entranced and scandalised Athens for decades.
547
00:33:06,210 --> 00:33:09,570
Yet this playboy was friends with Socrates,
548
00:33:09,570 --> 00:33:12,410
who was 20 years his senior.
549
00:33:12,410 --> 00:33:14,890
Socrates had actually saved Alcibiades' life
550
00:33:14,890 --> 00:33:16,690
during the battle of Potidaea.
551
00:33:18,330 --> 00:33:21,330
Plato's Symposium describes an infamous exchange
552
00:33:21,330 --> 00:33:22,970
that took place between them
553
00:33:22,970 --> 00:33:25,850
during a heady, aristocratic drinking party.
554
00:33:27,770 --> 00:33:31,730
A drunken Alcibiades, we're told, crashes the discussion,
555
00:33:31,730 --> 00:33:35,170
which turns to the question of beauty.
556
00:33:35,170 --> 00:33:38,210
In Greek culture, Alcibiades' body beautiful
557
00:33:38,210 --> 00:33:42,410
would typically have been regarded as a sign of his moral beauty, too.
558
00:33:43,570 --> 00:33:46,210
But it appears Alcibiades bought into
559
00:33:46,210 --> 00:33:49,970
Socrates' alternative concept of real beauty.
560
00:33:51,690 --> 00:33:55,370
Socrates, he says, might be ugly on the outside,
561
00:33:55,370 --> 00:34:00,250
but he has an inner beauty that by far outshines any physical beauty -
562
00:34:00,250 --> 00:34:02,970
and that he, Alcibiades, loves Socrates
563
00:34:02,970 --> 00:34:04,850
because he is the wisest man
564
00:34:04,850 --> 00:34:07,290
and therefore, the most beautiful.
565
00:34:14,130 --> 00:34:17,810
However, when it came to achieving inner beauty for himself,
566
00:34:17,810 --> 00:34:21,610
Alcibiades was woefully out of step.
567
00:34:21,610 --> 00:34:24,490
He thought his good looks could help him,
568
00:34:24,490 --> 00:34:28,810
but his cocky plan to seduce Socrates was rebuffed.
569
00:34:28,810 --> 00:34:30,850
"You're plotting to get real beauty
570
00:34:30,850 --> 00:34:33,770
"in exchange for its appearance", Socrates said.
571
00:34:33,770 --> 00:34:36,050
"That would be gold for bronze".
572
00:34:41,930 --> 00:34:45,930
For Socrates, the talents of young aristocrats were worthless
573
00:34:45,930 --> 00:34:48,410
without the wisdom to use them properly.
574
00:34:49,610 --> 00:34:53,090
By debating with them, he was pushing the patience of Athens.
575
00:34:55,090 --> 00:34:57,970
Yet Socrates didn't compromise his principles...
576
00:34:59,250 --> 00:35:03,930
..as demonstrated in the story of the Oracle of Delphi.
577
00:35:08,650 --> 00:35:11,690
We're told that a friend of Socrates, called Chaerephon,
578
00:35:11,690 --> 00:35:14,850
a rather impetuous individual from all accounts,
579
00:35:14,850 --> 00:35:17,850
came on pilgrimage here, to this sacred site.
580
00:35:21,410 --> 00:35:25,170
Delphi had been a place of religious devotion for 2,000 years.
581
00:35:28,410 --> 00:35:31,210
Chaerephon, in time-honoured fashion,
582
00:35:31,210 --> 00:35:35,010
climbed the sacred way to ask a question of the god Apollo,
583
00:35:35,010 --> 00:35:36,770
who spoke through a priestess.
584
00:35:41,410 --> 00:35:43,410
When he finally reached the Oracle,
585
00:35:43,410 --> 00:35:48,610
he asked, "Is there any man wiser than Socrates?"
586
00:35:48,610 --> 00:35:50,650
And the answer came back -
587
00:35:50,650 --> 00:35:51,850
"No".
588
00:35:56,530 --> 00:35:59,250
Chaerephon took the message to Socrates,
589
00:35:59,250 --> 00:36:02,850
who in typical manner, questioned the Oracle's words.
590
00:36:04,930 --> 00:36:08,170
Even the words of Apollo - a god, for heaven's sake -
591
00:36:08,170 --> 00:36:10,570
was subject to Socrates' scrutiny.
592
00:36:10,570 --> 00:36:15,170
He set about cross-examining people who had a reputation for wisdom,
593
00:36:15,170 --> 00:36:17,730
or a particular kind of specialist knowledge.
594
00:36:19,610 --> 00:36:23,810
After questioning public officials, poets and craftsmen,
595
00:36:23,810 --> 00:36:27,970
he discovered that they all lacked the wisdom they claimed.
596
00:36:31,090 --> 00:36:35,450
Eventually, Socrates concluded that the Oracle was indeed right.
597
00:36:35,450 --> 00:36:40,250
He was the wisest of men, but only, because as he put it,
598
00:36:40,250 --> 00:36:43,450
"I don't pretend to know what I don't know."
599
00:36:55,050 --> 00:36:56,690
Socrates was wiser
600
00:36:56,690 --> 00:37:00,090
because he acknowledged the limits of his own understanding.
601
00:37:01,250 --> 00:37:03,610
By publicly exposing the false pretensions
602
00:37:03,610 --> 00:37:06,650
and ignorance of those who did claim to know the truth,
603
00:37:06,650 --> 00:37:09,210
he was bound to make enemies.
604
00:37:09,210 --> 00:37:11,410
But there was something else about Socrates
605
00:37:11,410 --> 00:37:13,170
that was even more unsettling.
606
00:37:13,170 --> 00:37:17,690
He claimed to have his own daimonion, or guiding spirit.
607
00:37:17,690 --> 00:37:21,610
A kind of hotline of communication to the supernatural world.
608
00:37:31,130 --> 00:37:35,810
This daimonion spoke to him during trance-like episodes.
609
00:37:35,810 --> 00:37:38,210
It warned him from making wrong decisions.
610
00:37:39,610 --> 00:37:43,050
On one occasion, it advised against entering public politics.
611
00:37:44,250 --> 00:37:47,050
Socrates' followers would have been in awe of this
612
00:37:47,050 --> 00:37:50,010
uniquely personal divine calling,
613
00:37:50,010 --> 00:37:51,650
but the average Athenian
614
00:37:51,650 --> 00:37:55,530
would have been confused and deeply disturbed by it.
615
00:37:55,530 --> 00:37:58,010
Don't forget, this is a time and place
616
00:37:58,010 --> 00:38:02,290
where ritual, devotion and belief all take place out in public,
617
00:38:02,290 --> 00:38:04,690
as part of a shared experience.
618
00:38:06,170 --> 00:38:09,450
Not only that, but Greek folk culture imagined the world
619
00:38:09,450 --> 00:38:11,730
to be infused with spirits -
620
00:38:11,730 --> 00:38:13,250
not all of them good.
621
00:38:20,090 --> 00:38:23,330
Socrates' unorthodox, private spirituality
622
00:38:23,330 --> 00:38:25,050
could easily be confused with
623
00:38:25,050 --> 00:38:27,450
a darker, more troubling kind of magic.
624
00:38:28,530 --> 00:38:31,050
Some muttered that he was a sorcerer.
625
00:38:33,770 --> 00:38:36,130
In this super-religious culture,
626
00:38:36,130 --> 00:38:39,090
the philosopher was laying himself open to scandal.
627
00:38:40,970 --> 00:38:46,290
False rumours and innuendo would culminate on a very public stage,
628
00:38:46,290 --> 00:38:48,850
fostering the kind of misinformation
629
00:38:48,850 --> 00:38:52,490
that would ultimately spell disaster for Socrates.
630
00:39:03,090 --> 00:39:06,610
Picture Socrates, bustling up here to the theatre of Dionysus
631
00:39:06,610 --> 00:39:09,570
in spring, 423 BC.
632
00:39:09,570 --> 00:39:12,370
He finds some snacks to munch during the show -
633
00:39:12,370 --> 00:39:14,690
chickpeas, figs, nuts -
634
00:39:14,690 --> 00:39:16,610
settling down to watch the drama.
635
00:39:18,850 --> 00:39:21,970
He's here to watch a new comedy, called Clouds,
636
00:39:21,970 --> 00:39:25,730
by the young buck of Athenian theatre, Aristophanes -
637
00:39:25,730 --> 00:39:29,130
only 22 and eager to make his mark.
638
00:39:31,130 --> 00:39:35,450
By now a big character in the city, Socrates is considered fair game -
639
00:39:35,450 --> 00:39:38,450
and he's parodied pretty mercilessly.
640
00:39:38,450 --> 00:39:41,210
He's portrayed as a ludicrous figure,
641
00:39:41,210 --> 00:39:44,810
the head of a ridiculous school called "the think shop".
642
00:40:01,170 --> 00:40:03,570
LAUGHTER
643
00:40:03,570 --> 00:40:06,970
Socrates' character was merged with other intellectuals
644
00:40:06,970 --> 00:40:09,810
who were arousing popular suspicion -
645
00:40:09,810 --> 00:40:13,570
the devious sophists, who undermined society by making
646
00:40:13,570 --> 00:40:16,690
"the weak argument defeat the stronger".
647
00:40:16,690 --> 00:40:19,330
And the pre-Socratics, who in some cases,
648
00:40:19,330 --> 00:40:23,610
displaced the pre-eminence of the gods with their science.
649
00:40:23,610 --> 00:40:26,050
We're told that Socrates actually came to the theatre
650
00:40:26,050 --> 00:40:27,850
to watch Aristophanes' Clouds.
651
00:40:27,850 --> 00:40:31,690
What could it have felt like, to see himself portrayed in that way?
652
00:40:31,690 --> 00:40:35,650
I think he must have been amused. There is this anecdote of Socrates
653
00:40:35,650 --> 00:40:39,650
actually standing up in the seats of the theatre,
654
00:40:39,650 --> 00:40:42,810
so that those who didn't know him knew who he was
655
00:40:42,810 --> 00:40:44,370
and what he looked like,
656
00:40:44,370 --> 00:40:47,450
as his character was being ridiculed on stage.
657
00:40:47,450 --> 00:40:53,090
So I think Socrates was detached from all these standard norms of society
658
00:40:53,090 --> 00:40:57,650
and I think it's possible that he might have enjoyed that.
659
00:40:57,650 --> 00:41:00,370
On the face of it, this is all very amusing,
660
00:41:00,370 --> 00:41:02,650
but do you think that Socrates should be worried by
661
00:41:02,650 --> 00:41:05,450
the way that Aristophanes is choosing to portray him?
662
00:41:05,450 --> 00:41:08,250
In hindsight, I think he should have been worried.
663
00:41:08,250 --> 00:41:09,890
The core of democracy,
664
00:41:09,890 --> 00:41:13,370
the principle democracy is that the citizens be educated.
665
00:41:13,370 --> 00:41:16,610
If you don't have educated citizens, democracy does not work.
666
00:41:16,610 --> 00:41:21,570
The theatre was a major tool for educating the Athenian citizens
667
00:41:21,570 --> 00:41:24,330
and the memory of that portrayal
668
00:41:24,330 --> 00:41:26,690
would have remained for decades to come,
669
00:41:26,690 --> 00:41:29,650
as a whole generation of Athenians would have been exposed to it.
670
00:41:29,650 --> 00:41:31,890
It's the ancient equivalent of trial by media?
671
00:41:31,890 --> 00:41:34,330
It is, in fifth-century Athens, yeah.
672
00:41:55,730 --> 00:41:58,650
But the cracks appearing in Socrates' reputation
673
00:41:58,650 --> 00:42:02,210
were nothing compared to what was happening to Athens itself.
674
00:42:07,290 --> 00:42:09,770
As the war with Sparta dragged on,
675
00:42:09,770 --> 00:42:13,370
people questioned the success of the democratic experiment.
676
00:42:14,970 --> 00:42:19,250
At the heart of the uncertainty was Socrates' close friend, Alcibiades.
677
00:42:19,250 --> 00:42:21,330
He'd been chosen to lead an expedition
678
00:42:21,330 --> 00:42:23,730
against Sicily in 415 BC -
679
00:42:23,730 --> 00:42:26,490
the largest in Athens' military history.
680
00:42:29,290 --> 00:42:31,730
But one night, before they set sail,
681
00:42:31,730 --> 00:42:34,450
someone stalked through Athens' streets,
682
00:42:34,450 --> 00:42:38,490
mutilating statues of the protector god, Hermes.
683
00:42:38,490 --> 00:42:42,290
The rumour spread that Alcibiades and his aristocratic friends
684
00:42:42,290 --> 00:42:46,370
were the vandals, part of a plot to bring down democracy.
685
00:42:47,930 --> 00:42:51,250
Back in Athens, rumour escalated to outrage
686
00:42:51,250 --> 00:42:56,330
and Alcibiades was ordered home to face trial on charges of sacrilege.
687
00:42:56,330 --> 00:42:58,730
But then, en route, he vanished.
688
00:42:58,730 --> 00:43:02,450
And where he reappeared shocked everyone.
689
00:43:02,450 --> 00:43:04,610
He turned up, a traitor,
690
00:43:04,610 --> 00:43:07,690
in the bosom of Athens' greatest enemy,
691
00:43:07,690 --> 00:43:08,890
Sparta.
692
00:43:15,970 --> 00:43:18,170
Alcibiades' damaging defection
693
00:43:18,170 --> 00:43:22,210
exacerbated the anxieties of a god-fearing public.
694
00:43:22,210 --> 00:43:24,290
They needed a scapegoat -
695
00:43:24,290 --> 00:43:27,410
and Socrates was tainted by association.
696
00:43:29,930 --> 00:43:32,090
But he seems unconcerned,
697
00:43:32,090 --> 00:43:36,010
doggedly pursuing the knowledge of right from wrong above all else.
698
00:43:39,930 --> 00:43:44,690
So when the philosopher unexpectedly entered public life in his 60s,
699
00:43:44,690 --> 00:43:47,370
he was on a collision course with Athens.
700
00:43:54,770 --> 00:43:58,610
He became presiding officer in an emotionally charged case,
701
00:43:58,610 --> 00:44:02,770
whose drama was played out here on the hill of the Pynx.
702
00:44:02,770 --> 00:44:05,410
Six disgraced Athenian generals
703
00:44:05,410 --> 00:44:08,570
were accused of failing to collect the bodies of dead soldiers,
704
00:44:08,570 --> 00:44:09,850
lost at sea.
705
00:44:13,170 --> 00:44:16,690
The public called for the generals to be tried together,
706
00:44:16,690 --> 00:44:18,330
in breach of Athenian law.
707
00:44:19,730 --> 00:44:22,250
But Socrates refused to be swept along
708
00:44:22,250 --> 00:44:24,330
by the vengeful mood of the crowd.
709
00:44:27,050 --> 00:44:29,450
Even though threatened with indictment for treason,
710
00:44:29,450 --> 00:44:31,810
Socrates refused to budge.
711
00:44:31,810 --> 00:44:35,210
He wanted no part in this kangaroo court.
712
00:44:35,210 --> 00:44:37,890
As the sun set, there was stalemate.
713
00:44:37,890 --> 00:44:41,610
And then, the next morning, Socrates was off the case.
714
00:44:41,610 --> 00:44:43,010
Later that day,
715
00:44:43,010 --> 00:44:46,970
the generals were all tried here together at the Pnyx -
716
00:44:46,970 --> 00:44:49,730
condemned and then executed.
717
00:44:56,130 --> 00:44:59,530
To me, this case embodies one of the most important ideas
718
00:44:59,530 --> 00:45:02,610
that Socrates has been developing all his adult life,
719
00:45:02,610 --> 00:45:06,170
which is that one should never take revenge.
720
00:45:06,170 --> 00:45:09,570
And in this, he's completely turning on its head
721
00:45:09,570 --> 00:45:14,930
one of the foundational tenets of traditional Greek morality,
722
00:45:14,930 --> 00:45:18,730
which said that you should help your friends and harm your enemies.
723
00:45:18,730 --> 00:45:20,290
And Socrates says, no -
724
00:45:20,290 --> 00:45:23,130
because all you can do to another person is,
725
00:45:23,130 --> 00:45:26,370
you can take away their possessions, you can damage their body,
726
00:45:26,370 --> 00:45:29,930
you can kill them, but you can't harm their soul.
727
00:45:29,930 --> 00:45:34,650
But by doing wrong to somebody else, you are damaging your own soul
728
00:45:34,650 --> 00:45:38,890
and thereby, taking away your chance of a virtuous
729
00:45:38,890 --> 00:45:41,970
and hence also, a happy and flourishing life.
730
00:45:41,970 --> 00:45:44,810
This was a city-state that believed in justice,
731
00:45:44,810 --> 00:45:47,170
that wanted to see justice enacted,
732
00:45:47,170 --> 00:45:50,930
so in Socrates' book, what form should punishment take?
733
00:45:50,930 --> 00:45:52,730
It's a good point.
734
00:45:52,730 --> 00:45:55,490
He does believe that sometimes, punishment is appropriate,
735
00:45:55,490 --> 00:46:01,130
but you punish somebody solely in terms of trying to cure their soul
736
00:46:01,130 --> 00:46:05,810
of the damage that they have brought upon themselves by doing wrong.
737
00:46:05,810 --> 00:46:11,610
So, punishment is there to cure and purify a damaged soul.
738
00:46:11,610 --> 00:46:14,850
Even today, those still feel like quite progressive ideas.
739
00:46:14,850 --> 00:46:18,370
Absolutely, I mean we're barely catching up with these ideas.
740
00:46:18,370 --> 00:46:22,930
Even now, we still have debates. What is the purpose of punishment?
741
00:46:22,930 --> 00:46:26,250
Is it to...is it a kind of retribution,
742
00:46:26,250 --> 00:46:29,250
or is it some kind of reform?
743
00:46:29,250 --> 00:46:31,770
Now, Socrates is absolutely clear -
744
00:46:31,770 --> 00:46:34,730
the purpose of punishment is to reform.
745
00:46:34,730 --> 00:46:37,010
They are fascinating ideas,
746
00:46:37,010 --> 00:46:40,170
but they must have been very, very troubling to the Athenians,
747
00:46:40,170 --> 00:46:43,170
because it must have felt as if he was kind of unpicking
748
00:46:43,170 --> 00:46:45,770
the foundations that that kept communities together.
749
00:46:45,770 --> 00:46:48,570
Yeah. It would have looked weak to them.
750
00:46:48,570 --> 00:46:51,130
It would have looked like, "Oh, no, you're not a real man,
751
00:46:51,130 --> 00:46:54,770
"you're not standing up for yourself, what are you doing?"
752
00:46:54,770 --> 00:46:57,450
In a way, he's almost anticipating
753
00:46:57,450 --> 00:46:59,850
the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount.
754
00:46:59,850 --> 00:47:02,410
You know, turn the other cheek, in a sense.
755
00:47:02,410 --> 00:47:05,250
- But he's 500 years before all that.
- Oh, yes.
756
00:47:05,250 --> 00:47:10,250
How does he dare to march so out of step from the rest of society?
757
00:47:10,250 --> 00:47:13,730
Because I think he absolutely believes
758
00:47:13,730 --> 00:47:16,490
that nobody else can harm his soul,
759
00:47:16,490 --> 00:47:19,330
but if he takes part in the illegal actions
760
00:47:19,330 --> 00:47:22,050
that he was invited to take part in,
761
00:47:22,050 --> 00:47:26,370
then he will be absolutely damaging his own soul
762
00:47:26,370 --> 00:47:30,370
and taking away his chance of a happy and flourishing life.
763
00:47:33,330 --> 00:47:35,010
In the name of wisdom and truth,
764
00:47:35,010 --> 00:47:37,410
Socrates was prepared to stick his head
765
00:47:37,410 --> 00:47:40,330
dangerously high above the parapet.
766
00:47:40,330 --> 00:47:42,450
Interestingly, it's a quality that he shares
767
00:47:42,450 --> 00:47:45,290
with both Confucius and the Buddha.
768
00:47:45,290 --> 00:47:47,130
For all three philosophers,
769
00:47:47,130 --> 00:47:49,530
personal comfort and personal security
770
00:47:49,530 --> 00:47:52,450
came a poor second to principle.
771
00:47:52,450 --> 00:47:56,610
And in the case of Socrates, having the courage of his convictions
772
00:47:56,610 --> 00:47:59,210
would prove to be a matter of life or death.
773
00:48:08,610 --> 00:48:10,770
As Athens' enemies closed in,
774
00:48:10,770 --> 00:48:13,090
society turned in on itself.
775
00:48:14,690 --> 00:48:18,050
Freedom was a luxury it could no longer afford.
776
00:48:23,930 --> 00:48:27,530
Finally, the Spartans brought Athens to her knees.
777
00:48:27,530 --> 00:48:29,250
They tore down her city walls
778
00:48:29,250 --> 00:48:32,770
and installed a junta of 30 hand-picked oligarchs.
779
00:48:36,970 --> 00:48:38,810
Death squads roamed the streets
780
00:48:38,810 --> 00:48:42,530
and thousands of democrats were "disappeared" -
781
00:48:42,530 --> 00:48:45,370
forced into exile or executed.
782
00:48:48,490 --> 00:48:50,970
Even though a counter-revolution restored democracy
783
00:48:50,970 --> 00:48:52,930
just eight months later,
784
00:48:52,930 --> 00:48:56,170
it was a deeply compromised democracy,
785
00:48:56,170 --> 00:48:58,930
riven with suspicion and recrimination.
786
00:49:00,610 --> 00:49:02,850
In this poisonous atmosphere,
787
00:49:02,850 --> 00:49:07,170
Athens finally decided to deal with its troublesome gadfly.
788
00:49:20,570 --> 00:49:24,250
In 399 BC, at the age of 70,
789
00:49:24,250 --> 00:49:26,730
Socrates was back in court.
790
00:49:26,730 --> 00:49:29,770
This time, HE was on trial.
791
00:49:29,770 --> 00:49:33,210
The accusations against him were read out here, in the Agora,
792
00:49:33,210 --> 00:49:35,730
close to this oath stone.
793
00:49:35,730 --> 00:49:37,650
The first charge was impiety -
794
00:49:37,650 --> 00:49:40,530
denying the gods and introducing new ones.
795
00:49:40,530 --> 00:49:43,650
The second, that he'd corrupted the young.
796
00:49:43,650 --> 00:49:47,130
Both could carry the heaviest penalty -
797
00:49:47,130 --> 00:49:48,330
execution.
798
00:49:53,970 --> 00:49:59,210
The trial took place in a religious court, using the latest technology.
799
00:49:59,210 --> 00:50:02,370
A water clock measured the three hours allowed
800
00:50:02,370 --> 00:50:03,970
to the prosecution's case.
801
00:50:05,370 --> 00:50:07,810
Were his accusers politically motivated?
802
00:50:07,810 --> 00:50:09,370
Was he being scapegoated
803
00:50:09,370 --> 00:50:14,370
for his association with prominent anti-democrats, like Alcibiades?
804
00:50:14,370 --> 00:50:16,210
Perhaps.
805
00:50:16,210 --> 00:50:19,770
But then, he'd set about to open the minds of the young
806
00:50:19,770 --> 00:50:21,930
and with his goading questions,
807
00:50:21,930 --> 00:50:23,970
to challenge the status quo.
808
00:50:27,930 --> 00:50:30,330
Eventually, the water clock was refilled
809
00:50:30,330 --> 00:50:32,610
for the philosopher to defend himself.
810
00:50:33,730 --> 00:50:37,650
Plato recounts how Socrates feels he's fighting a lost cause,
811
00:50:37,650 --> 00:50:41,450
thanks to Aristophanes' searing, damaging caricature of him.
812
00:50:49,530 --> 00:50:52,130
"It is not my crimes that will convict me", he said,
813
00:50:52,130 --> 00:50:53,930
"but rumour and gossip.
814
00:50:53,930 --> 00:50:56,170
"I can't possibly defend myself -
815
00:50:56,170 --> 00:50:58,970
"it's like boxing with shadows.
816
00:50:58,970 --> 00:51:01,890
"You will persuade yourselves that I am guilty."
817
00:51:04,450 --> 00:51:06,090
Yet, in typical style,
818
00:51:06,090 --> 00:51:09,290
Socrates uses his defence to sting his fellow Athenians
819
00:51:09,290 --> 00:51:11,810
from their moral slumber.
820
00:51:11,810 --> 00:51:14,930
It is a brilliant, audacious speech,
821
00:51:14,930 --> 00:51:17,450
but it's also provocative and arrogant,
822
00:51:17,450 --> 00:51:20,650
and the jurors don't like it one bit.
823
00:51:20,650 --> 00:51:24,490
The city that once fetishized freedom and freedom of speech
824
00:51:24,490 --> 00:51:27,210
could not tolerate freedom to offend.
825
00:51:35,170 --> 00:51:39,130
Socrates was judged by at least 500 men, chosen at random
826
00:51:39,130 --> 00:51:42,850
and recruited from all over the traumatised city-state.
827
00:51:44,090 --> 00:51:47,570
The jurors would have used these ballots in a secret vote.
828
00:51:47,570 --> 00:51:49,890
A solid stem for acquittal.
829
00:51:49,890 --> 00:51:51,770
A hollow for condemnation.
830
00:52:00,930 --> 00:52:05,450
Found guilty, a second vote is held to determine his punishment.
831
00:52:06,450 --> 00:52:08,810
Socrates has the chance to avoid execution
832
00:52:08,810 --> 00:52:11,210
by proposing a lesser alternative -
833
00:52:11,210 --> 00:52:13,210
typically a fine, or exile.
834
00:52:14,330 --> 00:52:18,690
Instead, by speaking freely, democratically,
835
00:52:18,690 --> 00:52:20,490
he seems to invite martyrdom.
836
00:52:21,890 --> 00:52:25,330
He declares that he's lived his life for the benefit of the city.
837
00:52:25,330 --> 00:52:28,610
He deserves reward, not retribution.
838
00:52:28,610 --> 00:52:32,890
He suggests dinner, in perpetuity, at the citizens' expense.
839
00:52:35,810 --> 00:52:39,650
Socrates' irony loses him more support in the second vote.
840
00:52:41,570 --> 00:52:44,850
It seems he takes the news philosophically.
841
00:52:44,850 --> 00:52:48,250
The jury couldn't harm his soul,
842
00:52:48,250 --> 00:52:50,850
but they had harmed their own.
843
00:52:50,850 --> 00:52:53,650
"Now I go to die and you to live.
844
00:52:53,650 --> 00:52:55,970
"God only knows which is the better journey."
845
00:53:01,450 --> 00:53:04,530
Socrates didn't fear what he didn't know,
846
00:53:04,530 --> 00:53:05,890
including death.
847
00:53:07,010 --> 00:53:10,210
The man the Oracle proclaimed to be the wisest
848
00:53:10,210 --> 00:53:14,530
was now on death row for putting his own philosophy into practice.
849
00:53:17,370 --> 00:53:20,690
One of the things I find so compelling about Socrates
850
00:53:20,690 --> 00:53:24,050
is that even though he lived 25 centuries ago,
851
00:53:24,050 --> 00:53:27,370
in many ways, he saw us coming.
852
00:53:27,370 --> 00:53:29,930
He denounces an obsession with looks,
853
00:53:29,930 --> 00:53:31,850
with material goods,
854
00:53:31,850 --> 00:53:34,650
with spin and with fame.
855
00:53:34,650 --> 00:53:37,690
He wasn't just exploring the meaning of life,
856
00:53:37,690 --> 00:53:40,410
but the meaning of our own lives.
857
00:53:40,410 --> 00:53:41,730
Just listen to this.
858
00:53:43,210 --> 00:53:45,690
"Oh, my friend, why do you,
859
00:53:45,690 --> 00:53:49,130
"who are a citizen of the great and wise city of Athens,
860
00:53:49,130 --> 00:53:53,730
"care so much about laying up wealth and honour and reputation?
861
00:53:53,730 --> 00:53:58,970
"And so little about wisdom and truth and improvement of the soul?
862
00:54:00,250 --> 00:54:02,090
"Are you not ashamed?"
863
00:54:07,090 --> 00:54:10,570
Socrates would have to wait a month for his execution -
864
00:54:10,570 --> 00:54:13,410
a sentence intended to silence him.
865
00:54:14,410 --> 00:54:17,370
But Socrates' death at the hands of the people
866
00:54:17,370 --> 00:54:19,450
provided the perfect ingredients
867
00:54:19,450 --> 00:54:23,090
for his resurrection as an ideological martyr -
868
00:54:23,090 --> 00:54:25,970
a kind of blueprint philosopher.
869
00:54:25,970 --> 00:54:28,850
And ironically, what secured his legacy
870
00:54:28,850 --> 00:54:32,970
was the very thing that he'd disregarded throughout his life -
871
00:54:32,970 --> 00:54:34,610
the written word.
872
00:54:35,930 --> 00:54:39,930
His supporters wrote detailed accounts of his extraordinary life,
873
00:54:39,930 --> 00:54:43,250
immortalising his ideas and his spirit.
874
00:54:43,250 --> 00:54:44,770
Through their words,
875
00:54:44,770 --> 00:54:49,690
his game-changing, history-making voice endures .
876
00:54:49,690 --> 00:54:52,610
Still asking those probing, universal questions
877
00:54:52,610 --> 00:54:56,170
which, even today, are at the heart of our value systems.
878
00:54:56,170 --> 00:54:57,890
What makes us good?
879
00:54:57,890 --> 00:54:59,770
What is justice?
880
00:54:59,770 --> 00:55:01,130
How can we be happy?
881
00:55:03,250 --> 00:55:07,690
Socrates was the inspiration for Plato and Aristotle -
882
00:55:07,690 --> 00:55:09,810
two giants of philosophy,
883
00:55:09,810 --> 00:55:14,530
whose ideas would shape Western and Eastern civilisation up until today.
884
00:55:16,530 --> 00:55:18,210
Following Socrates' death,
885
00:55:18,210 --> 00:55:22,490
Plato abandoned his political ambitions in disgust
886
00:55:22,490 --> 00:55:26,170
and set up his Academy, which would continue as a centre of learning
887
00:55:26,170 --> 00:55:29,050
for close on 1,000 years.
888
00:55:29,050 --> 00:55:31,330
This building is Athens' modern Academy
889
00:55:31,330 --> 00:55:33,650
and it's just a couple of miles from the original.
890
00:55:33,650 --> 00:55:37,210
And it's part of a network of academic institutions,
891
00:55:37,210 --> 00:55:41,490
right across the globe, inspired by that Athenian example.
892
00:55:58,570 --> 00:56:00,890
On the day of Socrates' execution,
893
00:56:00,890 --> 00:56:04,610
his distraught friends and family came here to the Agora.
894
00:56:04,610 --> 00:56:09,130
The place where Socrates had once walked freely was now his cage.
895
00:56:12,610 --> 00:56:13,930
But he is serene.
896
00:56:15,570 --> 00:56:20,010
Calmly, he lifts the lethal little cup of hemlock poison...
897
00:56:20,010 --> 00:56:21,250
and drinks.
898
00:56:27,850 --> 00:56:30,050
We're told that Socrates' last words
899
00:56:30,050 --> 00:56:32,210
as the lethal hemlock took effect were,
900
00:56:32,210 --> 00:56:35,730
"Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius."
901
00:56:36,770 --> 00:56:38,730
With this cryptic message,
902
00:56:38,730 --> 00:56:40,930
even on the brink of death,
903
00:56:40,930 --> 00:56:44,090
he kept his followers and future scholars guessing.
904
00:56:47,490 --> 00:56:51,610
Was he proving himself pious by invoking one of the city's deities?
905
00:56:52,770 --> 00:56:56,690
Or was he ironically giving thanks to the god of healing
906
00:56:56,690 --> 00:56:59,810
for relieving him of the sickness of existence?
907
00:57:01,330 --> 00:57:04,490
Socrates might have been infuriating,
908
00:57:04,490 --> 00:57:08,530
but his tenacious questioning of what it means to be human
909
00:57:08,530 --> 00:57:12,130
still has absolute resonance.
910
00:57:12,130 --> 00:57:15,250
By stating that the ultimate evil is ignorance
911
00:57:15,250 --> 00:57:18,490
and that a good life is within our reach,
912
00:57:18,490 --> 00:57:23,250
he challenges us all never to be thoughtless.
913
00:57:27,410 --> 00:57:31,010
"The unexamined life is not worth living."
914
00:57:34,410 --> 00:57:36,090
With his head covered,
915
00:57:36,090 --> 00:57:41,010
no-one saw the final moment, when Socrates' precious soul
916
00:57:41,010 --> 00:57:46,730
slipped from that ugly, satirical, unforgettable face.
917
00:57:57,290 --> 00:57:59,210
If the mind of Socrates has made you think,
918
00:57:59,210 --> 00:58:01,970
then explore further with The Open University
919
00:58:01,970 --> 00:58:05,730
to discover how great minds have influenced our thinking today.
920
00:58:05,730 --> 00:58:07,170
Follow the address on the screen
921
00:58:07,170 --> 00:58:09,650
and then the links to The Open University.
922
00:58:13,410 --> 00:58:17,530
Next time, I investigate the gentleman philosopher, Confucius.
923
00:58:19,210 --> 00:58:22,930
His attempts to influence the rulers of his day ended in failure...
924
00:58:24,850 --> 00:58:28,050
..yet his vision of a harmonious society,
925
00:58:28,050 --> 00:58:31,290
inspired by the sage kings of the past
926
00:58:31,290 --> 00:58:36,050
would eventually shape one of the world's greatest civilisations.
77195
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